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Hopefull #TSJ

Janet was sitting in one of the comfy chairs in the living room when I arrived this afternoon. She saw me as I came in but didn’t react much until I got right up to her on her left side. She said she saw me then wasn’t sure if it was me. Thankfully she knew my name today though! Her recap of the day was a little garbled and not as detailed as yesterday but she had had a good day so far.

Garrett and Jen, the House Manager, joined us for a little chat so Jen could get to know Janet as this is her first day back from vacation. I gave them the heads up that Janet’s swallow X-ray should finally happen next week. I called her GP again this morning and was told that the doctor wasn’t sure which test to order for Janet and hoped to find out in a couple of weeks. When Janet and I met with her doctor two weeks ago she assured me she knew exactly what I was talking about and it wouldn’t be a problem. I was furious and told the receptionist I would get the info and call her right back. I called Connie who graciously offered to call the doctor’s office herself and instruct them on what to do. Connie called me back this afternoon to say she now had the order and would try and book Janet in next week. If she had not stepped in we could be waiting another two weeks for the test and to me that is unacceptable. I am going to see Janet’s old doctor tomorrow to see if he’ll take her back as at least I know his office will act promptly and correctly in producing referrals which is primarily all Janet is going to need from a GP.

After our chat with Garrett and Jen, Janet chose to play some iPad games and she did reasonably well at naming things but struggled with the math questions this time and I noticed her vision seemed to be giving her problems. I am going to talk to our eye doctor tomorrow in hopes of confirming what Janet is seeing and then figuring out if there is anything that can be done to correct it. When it came to the singing game Janet was hesitant when I mentioned it but started signing as soon as the first song came on. She sang about six songs in total and really enjoyed them all. I’m not having any luck finding a Music Therapist that can work with Janet so if any of you know someone in the area please let me know.

There was a noticeable drop in Janet’s energy level as we played iPad games so when she agreed to a bathroom break I suggested she stay laying on her bed for a few minutes of rest. She slept for forty five minutes and was in no hurry to get up after waking either so we read some Slow Dance until dinner time. Curtis had blended up some of Suzanne’s stew for Janet and I added some carrots and broccoli for color a la Rikki, and Janet ate a good meal. We planned on going to the gym afterwards as she hadn’t had her leg workout yet but to give her time to digest I had her put away her laundry. She did much better this time, noticing right away that there are two pieces of furniture her clothes go in and she knew that she had checked all the dresser drawers when looking for her pj drawer so they must go in the wardrobe. I think the nap helped with that.

Curtis and I took Janet to the gym and gave her a pretty good workout. I suggested to Curtis that her legs should probably get the morning time slot instead of the arms as going all night in bed then all day in her wheelchair is too much without a stretch. He agreed and will pass that on to Tez. Janet did very well standing at the stripper pole and on the Shuttle. Still a little doubt in her mind as to what she can do but she worked hard tonight and even asked for a bathroom break after the standing attempts. In the interest of speed I carried her to the closest bathroom which meant she had to “stand” to get her pants down. She did it just fine and repeated it when she was done. It’s not easy as she really has to work to stay up and of course I have to work to hold her and pull the pants so I don’t think we’ll do this on a regular basis yet but I will for sure do more standing transfers with her.

Part of the old Janet made an appearance tonight once we were back in her room. I was telling her how well she had done and she started making comments like “so what” and “who cares”. I explained to her how much she is loved by me and so many other people and she repeatedly said she didn’t believe me about all the other people. She was fine with family caring but not anyone else. In some ways it was good to hear her saying these things as that is very much an old Janet thing to say but I was a little concerned. She didn’t believe me about all the people following this Blog so I showed her the list and read all the names. It was interesting to see her reaction when I read names of people that have recently visited or she had seen at church etc. It was like she had forgotten then suddenly remembered. Our night ended with some laughs and big smiles and for the night at least I think she will have positive thoughts after we highlighted all the good things she did today.

Praying for rest and healing and a productive day full of positive news tomorrow.